2017 Target Events

Blog Archive

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Looking forward to my 10th FM at SCMM

It is just about a week to go for the 2015 edition of SCMM where I will be running for the 12th consecutive year - having done HMs in 2004 and 2005 and FM every year since 2006. Due to niggles in my left leg that have been hampering me since December 2013 I have not trained well for the event. Nevertheless,I am looking forward to what will be my first FM since Boston in April 2014. SCMM is without argument the largest (and arguably the best) road race in India and with over 3000 runners, well organised including traffic control and with good crowd support. As has been the case for several years now it will see participation of runners from across the country including a large contingent from Bangalore.

My FM timings at SCMM have improved Y-o-Y starting with 4:42:28 in 2006 to 3:37:20 in 2013. I have not trained for any specific timing target this year- rather the training for this year's edition has been quite limited - just 9 weeks starting with the week after the Bangalore Ultra on 8th November. During this period I have managed three runs per week in most weeks including 3 runs of 33Km, 29Km and 35Km. However, not all the runs have been good quality - have struggled towards the end of quite a few. Plus I have not done any interval or tempo training since March 2014. Therefore, my current FM fitness level is far below that of its peak in Jan 2013 and fairly below that in Jan 2014.

However, based on the timings of some of my better long runs I feel sub 3:50 is still within the realm of possibility. I will be extremely thrilled if I manage to beat my 2014 time of 3:46:23. It will be quite disappointing if at least a sub 4 is not achieved. The strategy will be to do the first 10Kms in about 52 minutes and the first half in under 1:49 at an average pace of 5:13/Km. Thereafter get to 32Km in 2:45 and then push hard to finish as close to 3:45 as possible. Eagerly looking forward to getting on the plane to Mumbai next Friday and have an enjoyable race weekend!!